Proposal

The first step in implementing an Active Directory infrastructure for an organization is to analyze its administrative structure, needs, and goals. This is one of the most important steps because the information gathered from the analysis will influence the design of the Active Directory structure. One of the first questions to be addressed is when the rollout of Windows 2003 occurs will this affect any of the business's current practices. Identifying a business's priorities assists our design team in creating an Active Directory structure that meets the business's needs and expectations. The features that will be implemented in Active Directory will be based on the priorities that the business has expressed and assess what the business has laid out for itself in terms of short-term and long-term goals and what the business hopes to achieve.

Determining Client Computing Requirements

The Active Directory structure that is designed must meet not only the needs of administration, but also the needs of the users in the organization. Therefore, the client computing requirements must also be assessed. The following questions will be addressed during the design phase of this upgrade.

* What tasks do the clients perform, and what do they need in order to perform them?

* What are the computer requirements for client workstations if an upgrade is necessary?

* To which applications do the clients need access?

* To which network resources do users need access, and where are they located?

* Which types of security do they require?

When we gathered and analyzed information about this company, we considered the business requirements as well as the security. The security requirements will have a major impact on the design of the Active Directory structure. The security plan developed by our design team will be based on the security requirements of the company. Security is the number one issue when designing a network infrastructure.

Impact of Active Directory

During the design phase, we will consider the impact Active Directory will have on various areas of this company. The goal is to make the entire process go as smoothly as possible for everyone involved. We focused on the areas discussed in the following areas the Existing Systems and Applications, Technical Support Requirements and the Scheduled and Planned Upgrades and Rollouts when determining the impact